Ride to East - Day 5

Grand Canyon

Page, AZ to Winslow, AZ (272 miles)

Continuing from Lake Powell, we got an early start and headed straight for Grand Canyon National Park.  The road was nice and straight and on our way, we got some good short previews of what's to come.  We made good time and entered the park before noon.  We headed straight for the first point for a spectacular view of the canyon.  Next we headed over to Park Village for a slightly different spectacular view.

We had a schedule to follow, so we left the park and headed for Flagstaff.  On our way out, we noticed a rather long line of cars waiting to enter the park.  It seems we had timed our visit well and dodged a bullet.  Grand Canyon was both windy and chilly and the ride to Flagstaff was no different.  We had geared up with the clothes we had with, but we prepared for the desert, not the mountains.  Nothing to do but deal with the chill and turn on the heated handlebars for a little relief.

Flagstaff was luckily a bit warmer and it helped to get some warm food.  It's a very cute little town with lots of dining and bar options.  Also, famous Route 66 runs through here, so I picked up a sticker.  After food and some coffee it was time for Octavia to fly out.  She's heading back to California for work, but might join me later on the trip.  Flagstaff has a pretty small airport, making it pretty easy to drop her off on the bike and re-pack some of our gear.

After saying our goodbyes, I headed for Winslow.  Flagstaff hotels were fully booked for the Labor Day weekend and the closest I could find was an hour east.  Tomorrow, I continue straight east as I'm eager to put down some miles toward my target.  However, I'm keeping an eye on the weather.  Could, be trouble.

Petter on his Ducati Multistrada 1100S